2 Comments

I have been keeping an eye on your progress and I just wanted to say how inspiring you are! I love reading your updates and I think your exercise videos are fun to watch.

I have been admiring your development as a digital artist, so when I heard about your diagnoses I really wished for you to make a full recovery or at least find a way to manage your illness. I don’t have any physical health problems, however I am overweight and I have no excuse for not looking after myself. Your determination to overcome your MS and to improve your health is very encouraging and makes me want to improve my own health.

I say that I don’t have physical health problems however I do suffer from anxiety and sometimes depression. I’ll be all right for a few months, exercising and being more careful about my eating habits but then I’ll suddenly go the other way and undo all my hard work. I am determined to find a lifestyle that I can stick to whether I am feeling mentally good or bad. I know that when I exercise and eat well my mental health improves, it’s just sticking to it. I admire your self-motivation and determination!

I will continue to follow your progress.

Madalaine McCabe
(a.k.a Umbrellasky also previously known as enialadam)

I know where you are coming from (with the whole sticking to it part). It’s really important to find something to keep your motivation up. The best thing you can do is to look at it as a change in lifestyle, something permanent and not just a short term solution.

Something else I find very important is how to look at your nutrition. I don’t like the word diet and don’t use it. Also, I don’t see eating a brownie here and there or other yummy stuff as cheating or anything bad. It’s a way of rewarding yourself every now and then and important in my opinion. As long as you remember that’s bad for you on the long run to totally indulge in unhealthy foods (just as an example of a mindset).

People who fought with their weight for a long time also quite often have underlying psychological issues that may very well lead back to childhood experience. In this case it’s even harder to break old habits.

I personally find it always helps me to think of others and what they have achieved.

For example, when I did the P90X Plyometrics workout and got tired or thought “ok I just sit this out a bit”, I reminded myself that one of the guys in the DVD had an artificial leg and while he might have been fitter during that point, he certainly made me think that if he was able to do it, then there is no excuse for me to not do it either.

Right now, doing Insanity, I have another role model that I recall when I am in danger of “slacking”. He was over 300 Pounds when he started Insanity and lost a lot of weight now that he finished his first round. THAT is some real dedication and stories like this I use to motivate myself and on top remind me that if others can, I can as well 🙂